fungus

Inside the search for the Cavendish banana's successor

(Newser) -
The Cavendish banana—that's the kind sitting in your kitchen right now—is "almost perfect," a scientist with Dole Food Co. tells the Wall Street Journal . Well, "laments," is the word the paper uses. That's because, as has been reported for the past couple...
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35 cases so far of 'Candida auris' yeast infection, which is drug-resistant

(Newser) -
The CDC warned American hospitals last year to keep an eye out for the emergence of a possibly fatal, drug-resistant yeast infection, and now the agency's fears may be realized. CDC officials tell the Washington Post that 35 patients in the US have been stricken with Candida auris, a...
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Often-obsessive hobby can result in fatalities from poisoning, falls—even murder

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What drives someone to head deep into the woods and spend hours foraging for fungi? Writing for Eater , the appropriately-named Joshua Hunt examines the seemingly obsessive quest for some of the world's rarest mushrooms. There's C. geaster, or "kirinomitake," for instance, which just one living person...
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They're making footstools from toadstools

(Newser) -
The sturdy stools and spongy cushions made at an upstate New York factory are formed with fungus. Ecovative Design is a business staking its growth on mycelium, the thread-like "roots" of mushrooms, the AP reports. The mycelium grows around small pieces of stalks and stems to create a material...
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Truffles are known for their scarcity, but not even trace amounts appear in truffle oil

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For years, truffle oil has promised to bring consumers the hard-to-find truffle with convenience and a longer shelf life. Problem is, truffles are neither long-lasting nor convenient—which is part of what makes them so exciting and expensive, reports Priceonomics . Well, it turns out the oil, often marked as "...
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So far there appears to have been 1 infection in US, but CDC warns hospitals to be on lookout

(Newser) -
There's a new drug-resistant infection on the rise, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is alerting hospitals nationwide to be on the lookout for Candida auris, a difficult-to-identify yeast infection that can prove fatal to those it infects. Though only one case has been spotted in the...
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A lethal fungus jumped continents in 2013 and is on a global rampage

(Newser) -
If you like bananas, it's time to start savoring them while you still can. A deadly fungus that's been killing the plant since the 1960s has jumped continents, moving from where it ravaged crops for decades in Southeast Asia to parts of South Asia, Australia, the Middle East,...
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Different yeast strains from different soils change a wine's chemical profile

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Winemakers have long understood that things like the soil in which grapes are grown can affect the flavor of the grapes and, ultimately the wine. Now scientists have proof that a microbial component of "terroir"—wine lingo for the individual regional conditions—has an impact, too. Reporting in...
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Some may be mistaking the poisonous mushrooms for similar, edible varieties

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As if the thousands of migrants streaming into Europe haven't already encountered enough roadblocks, another peril looms: poisonous mushrooms known as death caps (Amanita phalloides). They resemble a number of varieties one can safely eat, and those who mistakenly forage for them can experience fatal liver and kidney damage...
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Our dust contains, on average, 9K unique species of microbes

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Last year, volunteers mailed in dust samples taken from above interior and exterior door frames in 1,200 homes across the US as part of a citizen science project called Wild Life of Our Homes . Now, scientists are reporting in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B that our...
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Fast-spreading fungus could be devastating

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US scientists have been keeping a worried eye on a fast-spreading fungus overseas that proves devastating to salamanders, and yesterday in Science they issued a plea to the federal government: Stop the imports of salamanders immediately. The stakes are about much more than pet store sales, explains LiveScience : North America...
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Oldest grass specimen ever found was topped with fungus linked to LSD

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If you're glad you weren't on the planet in the days when Stegosaurus was whipping its spiked tail around in agitation, imagine the dino stumbling around with its eyes ablaze on the prehistoric equivalent of an acid trip, courtesy of newly discovered fungus-tipped grass. A perfectly preserved, 100-million-year-old...
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Scientists cite Asian fungus, lack of biosecurity

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When a fungus that has coexisted with amphibians in Asia for 30 million years recently found its way to the Netherlands, only 10 fire salamanders managed to escape death there. The fungus eats the skin, and that tends to prove fatal because amphibians perform much of their respiration through their...
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Harvesting of Yarsagumba could also damage ecosystem

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It's June in Nepal, so tens of thousands of people are scouring the nation's remote highlands for so-called "Himalayan Viagra"—a fungus said to boost libidos and ease health woes. But harvesting is a risky job that doesn't pay much compared to the fungus' value...
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Global warming, pandemic, fungus ... a not-fun time for everyone

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From Planet of the Apes to After Earth, Hollywood has depicted Earth's demise many a time—but scientists' fears of planetary catastrophe are just as scary, LiveScience reports. Here are a few Doomsday scenarios as imagined by scientific minds:

If it spreads to Latin America, the Cavendish might be doomed

(Newser) -
Banana fans, meet your enemy: Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.cubense, but you can call it Foc for short. It's a banana-killing fungus present in Asia and Australia and more recently in Mozambique and Jordan. If it spreads to Latin America—which accounts for about 80% of banana exports—supermarket...
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CDC report sets baseline for first time

(Newser) -
With antibiotic resistance building, experts fear a day when everyday bacterial infections could once again be life-threatening—and a new federal study shows "we're getting closer and closer to the cliff," says a CDC rep. Already, two million people each year suffer from antibiotic-resistant infections, and 23,...
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New study finds nearly 200 different types of fungi on feet

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If you always thought feet were kind of gross, you were right: There are almost 200 different types of fungi living on them, a new study finds. In fact, though fungi live all over your skin, they most like to congregate on the heel (home to 80 different types), between...
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African clawed frogs wreak havoc on ecosystems

(Newser) -
A species of frog that was once spread around the world as an early pregnancy test turns out to carry a horrifically deadly pathogen that can decimate local ecosystems. Mid-20th-century doctors used African clawed frogs as a weird-but-reliable pregnancy test—the frogs tend to ovulate when injected with a pregnant...
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(Newser) -
The fungus that has already killed 6 million bats in the eastern US and Canada has been found in Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park for the first time, reports the Los Angeles Times . A bat with white-nose syndrome was discovered in Long Cave, a 1.3-mile-long cave not linked...
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